The Remains of A Nation
by Shogun773
Summary: Two people run into each other in a chance scenario and slowly begin to realize that the other is more than just some random waster. A romance between two characters unaffiliated with any game protagonists in the Capital Wasteland around the time of Fallout 3.
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: This story is a collaborative effort between myself and a new partner, the plan is for this to be a fairly long one but no update schedule has been ironed out yet. That will come soon depending on popularity but without any further delay, here's the story.

Edit: Now with character labels. Neato!

It was another balmy day in the Capital Wasteland, the desolate quiet broken only by the occasional gunshot or animal, and one man. The man was alone, trudging along at a slow pace to the North and stopping every few minutes to scan the area around him. The scene was not an uncommon one in the Wasteland, many people would attempt to adventure or strike fortune and would almost always come to the inevitable conclusion of death. This man was cut from a slightly different cloth, his path had no higher or nobler purpose than exploration and occupation. The relative calm of the day was fleeting however, for the quiet was to be interrupted with violent punctuality.

Sam-

Dirt and sand, all I could see for at least a couple of miles in any direction was the same dirt and sand. I had been walking for the better part of five hours and had nothing to show for it, at this point I was getting bored. Looking down I saw that my watch claimed that it was early afternoon and sighed. _Looks like another useless day, how quaint. Well, I should probably start heading back so I can feel bad about myself and do it all again tomorrow, and the day after that. Maybe I can take a break one day and give alcohol another go, decisions aplenty._

I reached for my canteen and was broken from my thoughts by a crack, years of experience immediately recognized it as gunfire. I pivoted towards the source, only to hear it again and again. _Rifle fire, South by Southeast, medium range, not aimed at me._ I unslung and shouldered my rifle and began a light jog off in the direction of the shots, wondering if some suicidal flavor of boredom was influencing my actions. After a good 30 seconds or so I heard more shots, different this time, return fire of some flavor. I crested a small hill and saw the source of the commotion, there was a tent which had since collapsed as well as one figure taking solace behind a large rock. The figure was surrounded by four others, there were also two bodies on the ground and a lot of gunfire being exchanged.

I dropped down into a prone position, aiming at the current dispute and went through a quick survey of the surroundings. I estimated the distance as 400 yards, give or take 50, and got a rough windage from the tatters of what was once a flag hanging above a building a couple hundred yards beyond the firefight. Looking into my scope I could accurately see the figures, the surrounded figure was a young woman and she was being assailed by a group of petty raiders. _Well, I lucked out today. Raiders are always a fun example for target practice, being the nice person and saving someone is just a neat bonus._ I levelled my crosshairs on the first raider in the line and went through the ingrained and well oiled shooting routine that I'd practiced hundreds of times. _Aim, Exhale, Squeeze_.

The first raider's head exploded into a shower of gore, covering the man next to him in a shower of brain matter and blood. This caused the man to freeze, turning to where the shot had rung out. All this accomplished was making the next shot even easier, the next shot rang out only a second after the last and entered at the bridge of the raider's nose. The raider fell with the back side of his head a distant memory, the remaining two were confused and unsure as to which target they should focus on. This hesitation cost them their lives; the third raider fell when a bullet entered his eye socket and painted the usual browns and greens of the wasteland a vibrant red while the fourth was shot down by the woman's pistol. The entire engagement had lasted less than 15 seconds and left 6 men dead.

I cycled the last empty casing from my rifle and stood, walking down to the site of the carnage. I reloaded as I walked and then slung the rifle across my back, careful to undo the ties of my holster to be ready if this mystery woman ended up being less than friendly. I was in no hurry, it took a couple of minutes to cover the distance and when I looked up from my boots I was greeted by the sight of a brunette of slightly lower than average height who filled out her fairly threadbare clothing quite well and had an expression that no one could call remotely amused. _Jesus man, you have to get out more. Just met this random girl and_ already _you're checking her out, shit._ I stopped at a distance of about 10 yards, hands away from any weapons or any threatening gestures and cleared my throat. "So, how's our resident damsel in distress? Didn't catch your name with the whole saving you thing. You are?"

Rose-

"Damsel in distress? I had everything under control, I didn't need some random asshole's help." I muttered in annoyance, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You wound me, I am merely a traveler who just happened to come along at your hour of need." I couldn't help the sharp retort that came out.

"Hour of need? Everything was fine, I had them right where I wanted them."

"You were hiding behind a rock surrounded by four men and they were advancing each time you paused to reload. Seems pretty needy to me."

"Well, who are you to judge? I had a plan! And it didn't involve some half ass knight in shredded cloth. "

"Shredded cloth? I'll have you know that my armor is far better than the tatters you're wearing, you merely have no taste. My armor is only the finest brahmin leather, meticulously cleaned and shipped from overseas in a massive cruise ship with naval escort." I rolled my eyes, out of every survivor in the Wasteland, I got sent this clown as some kind of sanctifying grace to save my ass.

"Well then, if you've got the 'finest' Brahmin leather, you must be known throughout the Wasteland. So how come I don't know you?" I questioned as I leaned against the rock I had been pinned against moments before.

" I am our intrepid explorer, noble be my heart and goal, except when I'm drunk. I'm Samuel."

"Hmm... I see, nice to meet you Sammy." I said, running my tongue across my bottom lip, looking Samuel up and down. He stood tall at about six feet, maybe a little more give or take. His shoulders were broad, seemed to have a bit of a bulk to them, only the result of the harsh Wasteland. _Not too bad, for an ass that is. Wouldn't hurt to clean up a bit, but out here, clean isn't a word commonly used._ His hair was a dark brown, like dark chocolate, and it was short length wise. Mostly to decrease the chance of it being grabbed, to eliminate any weaknesses. _What a shame too... I like hair that you can grab..._ I was brought out of my treacherous thoughts by him making some sort of noise, talking. That's what he was doing.

"It's Samuel or Sam, and if you've sufficiently eye-fucked me I think you still need to tell me your name." I rolled my eyes. _Cocky too huh?_

"You wish Sammy. And out here I go by many names, but most call me Rose." I blew the hair out of my face, noticing the smug smirk on Samuel's face.

"Rose, huh? Where's the nice sunny disposition and tenderness?"

"Every rose has its thorns, you ought to be careful, never know when you'll get hurt."

"Oh, how sweet, you worry." I sighed and shook my head, this guy is exasperating.

Pushing off the rock I walked to the nearest raider, kicking his limp body to force him to roll over. I nodded my head, gesturing to the raiders whose brains now painted the ground, "Those three are yours. You killed 'em, you loot 'em."

Bending down I ripped the shirt off the nearest raider. His hair was black and long, it was a bird's nest of tangles and knots. I patted him down, retrieving any ammo, bottle caps, cigarettes, basically anything useful and piled them by the rock. Although, while I was repeating the process with the second raider, Samuel's voice rang through the silence as he voiced a question.

"So what _are_ you doing out here?"

"Does it really matter?" I answered finding a combat knife on the raider, _at least this one is in better shape than my old one._

"Well, seeing as how you nearly got murdered by a bunch of retards with rifles sitting around here it seems like a valid question."

"You see that flag out there? I'm planning to scavenge the building, hopefully find something useful."

"I don't know how much you'd find, half the building has caved in and the other half seems pretty eager to join its twin on the ground."

"It's still worth a shot, I mean what do I have to lose?"

"If you want to go on a suicide mission, be my guest. If you do find something, where are you going to go? Got a place to live?"

I looked around, spotting the shreds of tent on the ground. "Well I had a tent..."

"A tent? No permanent housing? Impressive."

Crossing my arms, I cocked my hip, "Yeah it was, why do you care?"

"I've been around enough and slept in enough tents and on the ground to know it's not enough. Look, I recently... acquired... a house in Megaton and you can stay there until you get your shit sorted." _Around enough? He barely looks twenty._

"I thank you for the offer, quite a large request for someone I just met. And well... What do you mean by acquired?"

"That's a secret for me to know and you to never find out. Are you going to accept the offer?"

"I guess, anywhere is better than camping out here another day. I swear if I have to deal with another mole rat in the dark I'll go crazy..."

"I suppose that it's decided then, Megaton's this way."

I quickly gathered my loot from the ground and turned to see Samuel walking off. "Damn..." I muttered. _Full of sass, made with class, and sure has one hell of an ass._


	2. Chapter 2

A.N.: Welcome everyone, we've given up on some sort of actual schedule and will attempt to get one out every week provided schedules and interest agree, Fallout 4 is very distracting in this regard.

Sam-

 _Well, this is wonderful. What the fuck am I getting myself into here? Are you just going soft, dropping everything for a pretty face? I thought we talked about this, alcohol and masturbation is a much more stable way of living._

I take a break from my internal argument to sweep the horizon again, I almost want something to happen at this point. Shooting things has turned out to be really therapeutic sometimes, it would help with my thoughts at least. I check my watch again to see that we've been walking for about a half hour or so. _Only 4 and a half hours to go. Yay._

I turn around while moving to scan behind us and see the addition to my little dysfunctional group of me, myself, and I. The woman, Rose, gives me a questioning look and I judge the coast clear enough and turn back around. I can nearly feel her gaze as I continue onwards, trying not to dwell on my thoughts.

We walked for another hour or so in silence before I heard Rose yell from behind me, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Could we stop and take a break? We've been walking for a while and my legs are killing me." I look at my watch and see that it's been about an hour and a half since we started out _Well, I could continue walking all the way back but she must not. Fair enough, I guess we'll stop._ I look around and spot a slight ditch with a few scattered rocks and decide that it's as good of a spot as any.

"Alright, we'll stop in that ditch over there." I thought that would be that until I heard a reply.

"Why there? Why can't we just stop here? That's another couple hundred yards I don't want to have to walk."

"In my experience, it's nicer to do anything from a defensible position. Out here we have no cover, someone could both see us and shoot us from the better part of a mile in any direction. Better to take some more effort and be safe than be lazy and eat a bullet."

I peek over my shoulder to see her evidently thinking it over and then shrugs and continues on to the ditch.

Rose-

I internally groaned as I followed him. _Eat a bullet my ass, seriously, I just met him! I mean it makes sense to go to cover… But come on, there's no one here._ I dragged my feet in slight annoyance as I pocketed my pistol.

"Did you put the safety on?" Sam questioned, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

"Yes, of course! What do you take me for an idiot?" I quickly glanced down. _No._ I reached down slowly to my gun, hoping he wouldn't notice as I switched my safety on.

"You know, I knew someone who did something like that once, poor bastard's never going to be able to have sex again. I can almost still hear the screaming."

My eyes widened as I stared at the back of Sam's head, _Ow. Thank god I have internal plumbing._ "Damn, what was his name? Dick?"

"No, I think his name was Morgan. I honestly don't know if he's dead or not. I think he survived that engagement but he may have offed himself so he didn't have to deal with being dickless." _Engagement?_ I nodded and let the conversation drop due to the change in tone of Sam's voice.

We had reached the ditch as Sam scanned the horizon once more before sliding into it. The ditch had provided little to no protection from the sun. I leaned back and closed my eyes for a few moments as I rested my legs. I had been walking for the past few days until I had found a place which I assumed was acceptable to set up camp. _My observation skills aren't that great since I had gotten attacked by what? Six raiders?_ I cracked open one eye, glancing at Sam as he checked his rifle, staring through the scope occasionally. _What is it with this guy? Why does he seem on edge about things?_ I decided to shed the light jacket I had on since, at that moment, it was doing more harm than good.

"So Sammy, how far is Megaton from here?"

"Another three and a half hours or so, not long."

"Wait what?" I sat up and stared at him, "Another three and a half? What the hell! What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean by nothing?"

" I mean nothing, I didn't have any real reason. I just picked a direction and walked." "Why? I mean don't you have someone waiting for you back at Megaton?"

"No."

"Really? No one?"

"Well, I mean there's the liquor."

"Liquor is not a person, it's a lifestyle."

"It's as close as I've got."

"I see..."

"What is it that you see?" I glared at him, "I will hit you."

"You could try." I rolled my eyes, _Am I seriously gonna put up with this guy for the next three hours?_ I reached into my worn out bag and grabbed a bottle of water, it was not purified, but it was all I had. _My body is gonna hate me for this later._ I took a sip and caught Sam's eye, "What?" I questioned.

"Time to go, I think we've spent enough time sitting on our asses."

Sam had stopped sharpening the knife he had and put it away. _Since when did he have a knife? And how long has he been sharpening it?_ I watched him carefully as he stood up, making his way out of the ditch, and once more scanned the horizon. I followed behind him slowly, the temptation to switch the safety off dwelled within me. _I hardly know this man, who's to say he won't turn around and kill me? Or lead me to my death?_ _I want to trust him… but in the wasteland it's hard to know who to trust, even if they look good._ Within moments we were back on track, as I trailed a few steps behind.

Sam-

I crested a small hill and was greeted with the sight of the front gate of Megaton. _Home sweet home. Rusty, rickety home but home nonetheless._ I turned back to call Rose's attention but saw that she was already staring at the amalgam of scrap metal that was the town. I cleared my throat to break her out of it.

"Well, this is Megaton, in all its glory." She looked from me, to the town, and back to me.

"You live here?"

"Yeah, not for too long though. I moved in probably a month or two ago." She seemed to mull it over for a second before shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, I guess we should get inside then." It had turned from day to night at some point in our hike back here and we were both getting a tad tired. I led the way through the gate and into the town proper. I turn around to her and can't help the first question that springs to mind.

"Hey, have you ever been here before?"

"No, I've heard of it but never made a trip out here to see it."

"Well, allow me to formally welcome you to the town. Follow me to the house and we can drop our crap off and I can show you around."

She nodded and followed me as I walked the path back to my house. It took about a minute but we were soon in front of the shack that was my house. _It may be a vaguely house shaped thing of scrap metal but it's home I guess._

"Welcome to my five star hotel with premium luxury accommodations. Your paradise away from the scorched land around you." I hear Rose sigh behind me as I fumble with my keys and open the house.

Rose-

Sam opened the door, stepping inside to reveal his so called 'home'. I stepped in after, not knowing what I really expected. It was a two story house, shambles of what resembled a living area contained a couch and an old worn down arm chair. I raised an eyebrow as I noticed the stack of empty alcohol bottles in the corner, but what bothered me the most was the organization of his bottles. Various kinds of empty bottles sat on a shelf, clearly placed there without a single idea of how to organize them. _I'll have to change that, at least separate them by type of liquor._

A small dining area consisting of two chairs and an old table lay pressed against the back wall.

"So, this is your house huh?" I asked wandering over to the small kitchen in the corner of the room.

"Yep, my little slice of nothing in the land of nothing. You can see the various perks and amenities in all of their splendor."

"So, how much liquor do you think you have? I mean you do have quite a few empty bottles in the corner…"

"A lifetime supply, if you drank everything I have here in one go you'd probably die." _Why does he have so much? I mean for a man living alone this is a tad much._

"What do you do with all of it?"

"Things. Sometimes I don't want to remember a day or more. Alcohol is handy for that." I nodded my head, wandering around a bit more, inspecting the first floor.

"Mind if I head up? You know, see the rest of the house…"

"Yeah, sure. Just need to square some things away down here." I ascended up the stairs to check out what he may be hiding. _This is a pretty nice house, better than the wasteland that's for sure._ I made my way to a metal door that squeaked slightly when I opened it. _Nice a desk…_ I walked forward and opened his drawers. _Pack of cigarettes, combat knife, and some old pre-war money… wonder what he's saving it for._ I stood up to search the rest of his room when I realized something. _Only one bed. This might be a bit of a problem…_

"Sammy!" I called, "Can you come up here?"

"Is it urgent?"

"Define urgent."

"Do I have to be there right this second?"

"I would appreciate it, yes." A sigh came from downstairs as I heard his boots echo on the metal stairs.

"Yes? What's so important?" I turned around to point out the situation at hand when I saw Sam. Taking up the door frame, he stood bare from the waist up, his forearm braced on the door as he leaned. My mind blanked as I stared at his bare torso.

 _Wow. Just, wow._ My eyes scanned his body. _He's so… defined. The pecs… the abs... it's all just so well defined..._ Though his body may have been so perfectly built, it did have its flaws. Scars littered his body, everything from old scars that left white lines to ones that seem fairly recent. _How can one person have so many scars… I wonder how he got them._ I bit my lip, wanting to trace them, _what can I say? Scars are sexy…_

"Are you done?" Sam interrupted my thoughts, dragging me out of my fantasy world, "Done with what?"

"Drooling."

"I wasn't drooling" I muttered and moved my hair out of my face, but wiped my lips as I did so. _I'm not drooling, am I?_ The blush on my face gave away my embarrassment, much to his enjoyment.

"If you've sufficiently fantasized, what is the problem?"

"There's only one bed."

"Ah, that. I can sleep somewhere else."

"I mean it's your bed I don't want to kick you out of it. Do you have anywhere else I can sleep?"

"No. You sleep on the bed. I could sleep on the metal floor and it would still be nowhere near the worst thing I've slept on."

"Sleeping on what?"

"I've slept on almost anything you can think of. I think one of the worst was when the ground and everything was just slick and covered with blood. Was sticky and overall not a fun experience that I don't think I'd ever want to do again." _How? Why?_

"Are you sure?" I glanced at the bed, _There's enough room for two if you tried, but should we really try?_ I glanced back at his chest, _Don't answer that, me._

"Yeah, I'll figure something else out."

"I mean, if you're sure about it…" I opened my mouth to counter his claim when suddenly my stomach growled. It sounded as if there were a stray dog in the room. _God damn stomach, you betrayed me once again._ I flushed embarrassed as I looked down, "Do we have anything to eat?"

"Nothing hot, mostly old food and MREs. Stay here and I'll go get something."

"Okay, I guess I'll be here."

Sam-

I exited the house after pulling on a shirt and went to go try to acquire something that may somewhat resemble food somewhere. _Well, that was interesting. If I wasn't being eyefucked earlier today I sure as hell was just then. Then the bed thing, what the fuck? Is this all some kind of joke? Like I go to sleep and everything's gone and I'm dead? Whatever, may as well get food._

I broke from my thoughts to realize that I had managed to make my way all the over to the restaurant in town without thinking or paying any sort of attention at all. _Huh._ I take a quick glance at the roughly made menu and put some thought into it. _I usually don't care what I eat as long as it's food but she may be a bit more picky._ I order two bowls of noodles, getting a strange glance from the woman working the bar. _Ah, I've never gotten anything for two here, okay._ I pay and take the food and walk back in the direction of the house, doing my best to keep my thoughts grounded and not on the behavior of the woman currently occupying my house.

I get to the door and realize that I've made a bit of a logistical error. I have only two hands and both are occupied holding the food. _Great._ I transfer one to the crook of my arm and attempt to fish out my key from my pocket. After a brief struggle, the key surrendered itself to my grasp and I manage to get the door to open. I walk into my house and deposit the noodles onto the small table that will have to pass as a dining table at the moment. I turn to alert Rose to the existence of the food only to see her at the base of the stairs looking at the table.

"Well, this is food, find yourself a seat at the round table, knight, and tell King Arthur of your adventures."

"Right. Who died and made you king?"

"Well, judging by the outside world, everyone."

We settled in at the table and I got the chance to actually look at Rose for more than a few seconds at a time. She had fairly soft features, almost innocent, many would call her beautiful, but her eyes told of more experience than her face let on. Her eyes themselves were gray, non-ordinary but somehow matching the fairly graceful features of her face. One feature that stood out was her small nose, not its existence but the fact that it's very slightly crooked. _Probably broken at some point and set strangely._ I tracked further down and notice her full lips, slightly pursed at that point in time. She had a small scar on the right side of her bottom lip, and at that point she looked up from the noodles that she had been staring at for the past little while.

"See something you like?"

"Well, you got your staring in, may as well start paying off the debt now." _I should probably try to keep my eyes above chest level for the rest of this meal, no telling how she'd take that one._ I start eating and attempt to make this situation a tad less awkward by my amazing social skills. "So, where are you from?"

"A small settlement, I don't even remember what it was called, I didn't need to remember at the time. A few houses thrown together for protection. Nothing grand, but it served its purpose. How about you?"

"I don't know where I'm originally from. I remember living in Rivet City as a kid but I know that I wasn't born there."

"So you traveled with your parents?"

"No. They died when I was a kid, my dad went out with a hunting party and they got jumped by raiders. One of the members of the party came back, my dad did not. My mom got sick I think, she died a couple years after my father. I was alone by the time I was 14."

"Oh..." She had looked down, "Don't expect me to feel sorry for you. The wasteland is a cold and unforgiving place. The fact that you are still here today means something..."

"Maybe. Your parents still around?" " They could die for all I care. We didn't have the best relationship."

"I can understand that." The conversation almost died there, but I managed to keep it alive by using one of the best skills I have, blurting out whatever bullshit happens to come up in my mind. "How old are you?"

Rose stopped eating and looked up at me, raising her eyebrows. "Didn't you ever learn manners? You never ask a woman for her age."

"Well, I'm guilty on both counts. So, how old are you?"

"I have managed to get by for 21 years now."

"Ah, I guess I'm your venerable elder then."

"Why? How old are you?" "I have lived so far to the ripe old age of 24, I should probably be seeking retirement homes at this point in my advanced state of decay." Rose rolled her eyes at me and finished her food. She stood and I got a look at her figure as she turned to walk back to the stairs.

She had a fairly curvaceous figure, all of the curves in the right places and proportional to her height. She ascended the stairs and I heard the door to my bedroom close, apparently she decided she was done for the day with life. _Oh well._ I cross the living room to where I had started cleaning my rifle. I spend a while finishing that job, eventually hearing no noise from the upstairs. I reassembled the gun, shouldered it, and then dry fired it. _Fully operational, good._ I set my rifle down next to the rest of my arsenal and make myself some kind of sleeping arrangement on my couch and lie down. _Wouldn't be the first time I passed out on this couch._

I settle in and eventually drift off to sleep, I can show Rose around the town tomorrow when we are both more rested.


End file.
